The People We Were
by Mirandoo
Summary: John wakes up in hospital after being in a coma, he has amnesia.Then he meets Linda, another amnesia sufferer, and they marry. Years later they begin to notice strange things happening around them, and they discover another son... good story! x
1. John Peters?

Chapter 1

He was running. Running through a dark tunnel, there was a light at the end, but it was so far away. Too far… but he had to carry on. He didn't know why, something, someone, needed him to get to that light. He had never let anyone down before, he wasn't about to start now. The light was getting closer, his heart was pounding so hard in his chest he felt as if it was breaking his ribs. He was in pain, but the light kept him going, they needed him. Lily and Harry needed him.

Suddenly he felt himself hit the cold stone ground. He had stopped running, he had escaped. Escaped from the blackness, he had made it to the light. He would be able to save them. He felt a pang of pain in the back of his head, he couldn't remember who _they_ were. He couldn't remember who _he_ was.

He opened his eyes, and realised that he was in a house. He couldn't see properly, and on instinct reached to his side, and found a pair of glasses. He put them on. Something had happened here, he knew it. Something bad had happened. The carpet on which he was lying was covered in rubble, which had fallen from the ceiling above him. The door had been forced open, and the banister torn down. It must have been early morning, as the light was pale and cool on his skin, like fresh snow. The house was on the verge of falling down, and he knew he had to get out, before he was crushed beneath it. He didn't know who's house it was, though, what he had been doing there, why it was damaged. Had he broken in and destroyed it? Had it been his house?

He stood up, and found himself immensely tired, his head was pounding, and his arm bent out of place. Something had happened to him too. He felt as though he had been run over by a truck, he hadn't felt like that since he and Sirius had drank a whole bottle of Firewhiskey. Who _was_ Sirius? Was he a friend? Maybe if he found him he could ask him. But how could he ask him? He didn't know who he was, and although Sirius was an unusual name, how could he possibly find the right one. He stumbled from the wreckage of the house, and walked through the garden to the quiet, country lane on the other side of the hedge. He caught a glimpse of a ghost-like face, before collapsing on the ground, unconscious.

* * *

The next thing he remembered was waking up in hospital, how he got there, he had no idea, obviously someone had found him in the street and called an Ambulance. He wasn't surprised, he had been in a pretty bad way. The room he had been lying in for the last week was entirely white. Actually, he had been there for far longer than a week, only he had just woken up. He had been in a coma for nearly a year. When he woke up, the doctors had swarmed him, asked him questions he couldn't answer.

"Can you remember how you got here, sir?" asked Doctor Holmes for the seventh time.

"No." he replied, "As I told you yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, I cannot remember what happened, because I was in a coma."

Dr. Holmes simply chuckled, and wrote something on his chart, "Can you remember your name?"

"No." he replied through gritted teeth. He hated his doctor, she was infuriating, always asking him questions she knew he couldn't answer. She was quite pretty though.

"You might want to think one up, I can't go on calling you 'sir' forever," she said, placing his chart on the end of his bed, "Until you woke up, we called you John Peters. Best we could come up with, I'm afraid."

"Well," he said, sickeningly sweet, "I guess I'll stick to that then won't I? Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to sit here and wallow in self pity."

"John! That's not a very positive attitude at all! Can you tell me again how you got here." she repeated.

"I woke up in a falling down house," John recited dully, "walked out, fainted, and woke up a year later."

"When you woke up, did you remember anything? Any names, places? Even an image of someone?" asked Dr. Holmes.

"A name," he said, he hadn't told any of the doctors this before, "Sirius. I think he was a friend, because I could recall being drunk on Firewhiskey."

"Firewhiskey?" asked Dr. Holmes, "I've never heard of it! Are you foreign?"

"I don't know." said John, through gritted teeth, "I have amnesia."

She turned to leave, and then thought better of it, "You had a wife, you know John."

"Huh?"

"When we found you, you were wearing a wedding ring," she dived into the pockets of her white lab coat, "here."

She handed him a thin gold band ring, it was impossibly shimmering, as if enchanted. Inscribed upon it were two initials, J.P~L.E.

"That's where we got your name from," said Doctor Holmes, John had forgotten she was there, "John Peters, J.P."

"Thank-you." he croaked, on the verge of tears. She smiled at him and turned to leave again, closing the door behind her.

John couldn't believe it. His wife must have been the person he wanted to save, when he first woke up. She must have been in that house, the one that was falling down. She was probably dead, he thought bitterly, and I can't even remember her name to mourn her properly. At that John broke down in tears. A soft voice next to him distracted him.

"Are you OK?" asked a red-headed woman in the bed by his side. Her face was warm and comforting, it felt familiar to him. She had the most beautiful eyes John had ever seen (not that he could remember seeing many eyes), they were a deep emerald green.

"I'm fine," John smiled weakly, and held up the wedding ring, "I just got some tough news."

"Tell me about it!" said the woman, far more cheerful than John expected of a woman in hospital, "They moved me here last night from a ward upstairs. I was in a coma until about a month ago, they still won't let me leave, apparently amnesia patients are special cases," she huffed angrily, "what are you in for?"

"Coma, and amnesia" he chuckled, "Maybe this is the 'Coma/Amnesia Recovery Ward'.

"Maybe," she giggled, and smiled a wide grin at him, "I'm Linda Edwards."

"John Peters," replied John, "it's a pleasure to meet you Miss. Edwards."

* * *

15 years had passed since John met Linda Edwards, and she had changed his life. They started going out as friends when they were both released from hospital, until they became more than friends. They fell head-over-heels in love, but it wasn't exciting and new, it felt safe and comforting, but every day was an adventure. They were married on the 27th March 1985 in the small village of Ottery St. Catchpole, where they later bought a small house on the main street. They lived a quiet life, not having much money, but Linda always managed to help them scrape by. She had taken a job as a teacher's aide in 1982, and had since become the English teacher at the local Primary School.

John had for many years been unemployed, as he had no schooling records with which to base a job, and no real gift with children as Linda did. However he had a gift for writing, and children's wrote books. Books about wizards and witches. He had no idea how some of his ideas came to him, he wrote about Quidditch, a game played on broomsticks. He wrote about castles in Scotland where wizards went to school, he wrote about magic wands, and dark curses. He books were never published though. No one was interested in the ramblings of a man with amnesia. But when John wrote his stories of wizards, he felt safer, at home, when he wrote these stories, he felt like he was recovering his past.

Linda too was struggling to remember anything, but since the birth of their son 10 years ago, she hadn't looked so much into it. She had given up searching for the man to whom she had been married, she never told John of him, and all she had to remember him by was a ring, bearing the initials L.E~J.P.

Linda always thought it was funny how she had married a man with the same initials as her previous husband, but to her he was nothing more than a name. John was her life now.

John never told Linda that he had been married before, but thought it was funny how she had the same initials as his previous wife, but to him, she was not important. Linda was his everything.

But Linda had only one regret of her past life, which she could not remember. When she had gone into hospital to have her son, Sirius, named for the only man John could remember in his past, the doctors had told her something sickening. She had had another child, at least 6 years previously. The thought haunted her, what had happened to her baby. Had it been lost when she had her accident? She, unlike John, could remember nothing before waking up in hospital. He could remember a wrecked house, and a longing to help someone. All she could remember was blackness… well that wasn't strictly true. Linda could also remember a flash of green light.

_Hello!! Please review and tell me what you think :P I'm considering whether or not to continue this story, as it is quite an over-written theme… I just had the idea in my mind and needed to write it down xxx _


	2. Dreams and Nightmares

Chapter 2

"Linda!?" John called up the stairs, "Are you coming down or what?"

"I'll just be a minute!" John heard the disembodied voice of his wife from the top of the stairs. She always took hours to do anything, be it wash the dishes or get ready for an evening out. It was the height of summer, and the sun was just about to set over the rolling hills around the village of Ottery St. Catchpole. John heard Linda's footfalls coming down the stairs.

"Finally!" he said exasperatedly, looking at his wife, who was wearing a pretty green summer dress which matched her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Linda huffed, "Sirius is still worried since those hairs were ripped from his head yesterday. Has no idea how it happened, but now he has a bald patch on his head."

John chuckled, "Classic, something the Marauders might have done!"

"What did you say?" Linda asked shocked, "The Marauders, who are they?"

"I have absolutely no idea, sweetheart," said John, checking his watch, "Come one, we're late enough as it is, we should get going."

"Yes, alright," said Linda, pulling on her green cardigan, and picking up her bag, "Bye Sirius! Be good!"

They had always been worried about their son staying alone in the house with only a baby-sitter, he had a tendency to wreak havoc everywhere he went, be it breaking light bulbs by looking at them, or making his teacher's hair turn blue. John called it 'special', Linda called it a 'coincidence'.

They closed the door carefully, and set off out of their neat front garden. The sun was still setting, casting an orange light which reflected off of John's glasses, making it look as though his eyes were on fire. Linda and John were going to an open air concert, about half a mile's walk outside the village, where there was nothing but open fields and rolling hills, simply ideal in the Peters' minds.

When they got to the field where the concert was being held, it was almost dark, and the music had started. John set out a picnic blanket, and he and Linda sat on it in each other's arms, listening to the soft music in the background.

Fifteen minutes into the concert, there was a large bang, and suddenly the cries of what sounded like hundreds of people could be heard. There was a series of loud 'pop's somewhere not all that far away, and the music halted.

"I'm afraid, Ladies and Gentlemen, that this evening's concert will have to finish early due to an unrecognised disturbance, I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience."

"Whats happened?" Linda asked John, panicking, her hands gripped tightly around him.

"I have no idea," he replied, "but I think it would be safer if we just went home."

And so they did, the couple ran the entire half-mile back to their house, where they found Sirius fast asleep upstairs. Linda paid the baby-sitter, and went into the kitchen to get herself a glass of wine.

"What in the name of Merlin was that about?" said Linda, as she and John sat on the sofa to watch the evening news. It was dark outside now, but a faint orange glow, like a fire, could be seen near to where they had been sitting at the concert an hour ago.

"Merlin?" John asked, "Since when have you said Merlin?"

"Don't know," Linda replied, "Since when have you said Marauders?"

"Touché," said John, flicking on the TV.

"…has been reported in the Surrey today, Steven Williams reports." said the news reader.

"Yes, thank-you David, as you can see I'm at the house of the Dursley family, who live here at number 4, Privet Drive. One night last week, a large group of people were seen leaving the house, and the Dursley family have not been seen since." said the man, who was standing outside of a suburban house, with an unusually tidy front lawn.

"Third disappearance in a month," Linda whispered to John over the TV, "Maybe that has something to do with the commotion today?"

"Shh," said John, pointing to the TV, where a boy of around 17 was talking.

"…Dudley Dursley was one of my best-friends. He would have said if he was leaving, we used to hang out after school. One day last week, their house was empty. No one in Little Whinging knows where they've gone." said the boy, who had horrible greasy hair.

"Thank you, Piers. As another day ends here in Privet Drive, Petunia, Vernon and Dudley Dursley remain missing. We have to ask ourselves, How long can these disappearances go on? Stephen Williams, BBC news. Back to David in the studio."

"Thank-you, Steven, and if you have any ideas as to the whereabouts of the Dursley family, or any of our other missing families, please call your local police station… and finally, the single mother, who…"

John flicked the TV off again, "Well that was depressing. Hearing about all these missing people, makes you feel like we could be next, you know?"

"I do know, honey," said Linda, snuggling into her husband.

* * *

John had always wondered what caused dreams. Why you couldn't feel pain in them, how they happened, so complex, within your mind. This was why he dwelled on a certain dreams he had so often, and why he wrote about them. Why were his dreams so like a real life? Why were Linda's not the same? John had always thought he was the only one with strange dreams, but little did he know, Linda had had the same dream as he had three years ago. The one with the graveyard.

John had never liked the dream about the graveyard, it had scared him. The child in the dream had seemed so lost, yet when he had seen John he looked so _found_. As if seeing John and Linda had given him strength, and the ability to fight. John dwelled on this dream far less than he had on any other, purely from the pain it had caused him to see the look on the boys face.

"You've been so brave," Linda said proudly, and John nodded slowly along with her.

"You are nearly there," said John, he didn't know why he said it, but it seemed to fit, "Very close. We are… so proud of you."

The boy looked at a man next to John, who he hadn't previously noticed, it was Sirius! Not his son Sirius, but the Sirius from the memory, "Does it hurt?"

"Dying? Not at all," said Sirius. "Quicker and easier than falling asleep."

Dying? But John and Linda weren't dead! They were alive, just asleep. Maybe Sirius and the man next to him _were _dead, or maybe they were just asleep too.

And he will want it to be quick. He wants it over," said the man next to Sirius.

"I didn't want you to die," the boy said. "Any of you. I'm sorry right after you'd had your son . . . Remus, I'm sorry ---"

Remus? The name sounded familiar to John, Remus must have been the man by Sirius. He recognised him too.

"I am sorry too," said Remus. "Sorry I will never know him . . . but he will know why I died and I hope he will understand. I was trying to make a world in which he could live a happier life."

A chilly breeze that seemed to emanate from the heart of the forest lifted the hair at John's brow, even in his dream. The boy, whose name he still didn't know, looked like he was having an internal conflict.

"You'll stay with me?" he asked the four of them.

"Until the very end," John said comfortingly, he didn't know what 'the end' was, but he felt it was coming soon.

"They won't be able to see you?" asked Harry.

"We are part of you," said Sirius. "Invisible to anyone else."

The boy looked at Linda, as if seeking comfort, "Stay close to me," he said quietly.

And they set off, deeper into the forest, to some pre-designated space, which John had no idea of. There were several cloaked figures, which smelled of death, but the sight of them did not affect him, he was in a dream. The forest became thicker and thicker, the trees became closer together, until they opened into a clearing. There were men in the clearing, talking to each other, they passed by the five of them, as if the boy were invisible. They continued into the clearing, and the boy pulled off a cloak-like thing, and John disappeared, never to see the scene again.

_what did you think of chapter 2? sorry for such a long update.... but i'll update soon i promise!!! next chapter will feature Sirius Peter's birthday!! xxx_

_PLEASE REVIEW!!  
_


	3. A Very Special Birthday Part 1

Chapter 3

John woke early to the sound of a buzzing alarm. The beep! Beep! Beep! Was like a little siren going through his head as he slammed the button down to make the incessant noise disappear. John rolled over slowly, and saw that Linda wasn't in bed next to him. He reached for his glasses so that he could see more clearly, but still no Linda. John got up tiredly and wandered over to his wardrobe, he pulled on some clothes and ambled down the stairs and into the kitchen. All thoughts of his dream pushed from his head.

"Here's the sleepy head!" Linda cried excitedly from the table, "Are you going to say happy birthday to your son?"

"Yeah dad!" the little red-headed boy bounced up and down eagerly in his chair, "Its my birthday? Remember!"

"Oh, yes, of course I remembered," John lied easily, it was a good thing only Linda knew of his habit of running his hands through his hair as he lied, "Your presents coming in the post today!"

Linda gave John a quizzical look, and he grinned as if to say 'well, I had to say _something_'. Linda's look became disapproving, but John ignored it, and proceeded to give his son a hug.

"How old are you birthday boy?" he said excitedly.

"I'm eleven today!!!" Sirius shouted excitedly, "And that means that next year I'm going to big school!"

"That's right, you're going to big school, my man," John said, ruffling his son's untidy red hair, "I'm not sure if you're ready yet, though… a bit more growing needed I think."

He surveyed his son's scrawny frame. Sirius was short for his age, and quite skinny. He had very knobbly knees, and his hair looked as though it had been dragged through a hedge backwards. He had Linda's face, but John's warm hazel eyes.

"Oi," Linda said, smacking John playfully, "I'm pretty sure you had the same knees as he did when you were eleven. He sure as hell didn't get _that_ from me!"

"How do you know?" John asked teasingly, "Neither of us can remember what we were like at eleven, he could have got it from both of us."

"Siri, honey, go and get dressed before the post arrives, you can open your _present_ when it gets here," Linda said in a motherly tone.

"But mum!"

"Just go, Sirius," said John, "your mother has a fiery temper which you don't want to cross."

The little boy hopped down from his stool and tamped upstairs, thoroughly unhappy with the fact he had school on his birthday. John yawned loudly, and stretched his arms above his head. Linda gave him a good morning hug,

"Sleep well?" she asked in an odd tone, "Any interesting dreams?"

John looked at her, puzzled, "Yes… why, did you?"

"Yes," she admitted shyly, "It was silly though."

"Nothing you say would ever be silly, Lind," John said, kissing her forehead, "tell me what happened."

"Well, I was in a forest," Linda started, and John's heart skipped a beat, this sounded like _his_ dream, "and there was a boy, he looked just like you and I think, I _think_…" he voice broke.

"What was it Linda?" John asked worriedly.

"That he was my son," Linda said, quietly, "It was just a dream, but I mean, it seemed so real!"

"This may come as a shock," John whispered in her ear, "but I had the same dream."

Linda gasped, she was so shocked by this that she jumped when there was a sound of thundering footsteps coming down the stairs and a cry of, "THE POSTS HERE!"

John and Linda walked slowly into the hall, praying that there would be something in the post that James would appreciate. He was sifting through the pile of stark white envelopes, which looked like bills, he face falling. That was until he came to a dull yellowy coloured envelope, on it, in neat green ink were the words,

_Sirius Potter_

_The second bedroom_

_No. 13 Burrow Lane_

_Ottery St. Catchpole_

Sirius looked at it, "This isn't for me," he said dejectedly, "Its for some guy called Sirius Potter."

"Sirius Potter," John repeated, taking the letter, "That name sound so familiar."

He read the address on the envelope, it hadn't been delivered incorrectly. Maybe the addresser just got the name wrong, yes, that _must_ have been it.

"Are you going to open it then?" John asked, "I think someone must have just mis-addressed it."

"But how do they know where I sleep?" Sirius asked irritated, "Someone's following me!"

"Don't be silly," John said reassuringly, "Just open it."

Sirius looked to his mother, who was muttering under her breath, "What is it, mum?"

"Nothing dear," Linda said hurriedly, "The name Potter does sound _so_ familiar."

"It does, doesn't it," John agreed with her, meeting Linda's eyes, which were burning emerald.

"When I hear it, I just want to call them a toerag, I want to shout, You're a bullying toerag, Potter!" Linda said slowly, laughing slightly.

John's eyes appeared to glaze over for a moment. He was swimming in blackness, until he landed in the grounds of a castle. He was there, but also not there at the same time.

* * *

He looked around, it must have been the height of summer in this place, and there were students in long black robes roaming the grassy grounds around him. Above, on a slight hill, was a great castle, with turrets and towers, and too many windows to count. To his right, was a black lake, and there were girls, who looked not much older than his son, were dipping their toes into the water and squealing, as if afraid they would be eaten by a monster if they stayed in too long. John deduced that he was in some kind of school, and the students wearing robes looked bored, as though it was the end of an exam season.

Something was happening about 100 yards in front of where John was standing, there was a gathered crowd, and they seemed to be cheering for someone, egging him on. John felt compelled to find out what was happening, and ran like a school child to the sight of the commotion. He pushed through the huddle of students, and got the impressing that they couldn't see him.

There were three boys in the centre of the huddle, all with black hair. One had hair which was so like John's, so like that of the boy in the dream, one had hair which fell around his eyes in an elegant way which John's hair could never have achieved, and one's hair was lank and greasy, it stuck to his head like it was wet. Greasy git, John thought to himself.

"_Impedimenta,_" the boy with messy hair said loudly, brandishing a stick at the greasy boy, who was knocked off his feet as he dived for another of the sticks.

The greasy boy lay panting on the ground. Messy-hair and the other boy advanced on him, wands up, the messy-haired one glancing over his shoulder at the girls at the water's edge as he went. There was a small, watery eyed boy, who was trying to get closer to the action, watching hungrily, edging around a sandy-haired boy to get a clearer view.

"How'd the exam go, Snivelly," the messy-haired boy said, turning so John could see his face, it was like seeing a 15 year old version of himself.

"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment," said the elegant boy viciously. "There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word."

Several of the watchers laughed, including John himself. He liked the elegant kid, he seemed nice. 'Snivelly' was trying to get up, but something was stopping him, it was like some sort of spell.

"You — wait," he panted, staring up at messy-hair with an expression of purest loathing. "You — wait. …"

"Wait for what?" said the elegant haired boy coolly. "What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"

Snivelly let out a stream of mixed swearwords and words which John had never heard before, but nothing happened.

"Wash out your mouth," said messy-hair coldly. "_Scourgify_!"

Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snivelly's mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, choking him —

"Leave him ALONE!"

The two boys still on their feet turned around, and messy-hair's free hand shot up the his head, ruffling his hair in a way so like John did when Linda shouted at him.

It was a girl with thick, dark red hair that fell to her shoulders and startlingly green almond-shaped eyes — Linda's eyes. In fact, this girl was so like Linda, the resemblance was uncanny, John shuddered.

"All right, Evans?" said messy-hair, and the tone of his voice was suddenly pleasant, deeper, more mature.

"Leave him alone," Evans repeated. She was looking at messy-hair with every sign of great dislike. "What's he done to you?"

"Well," said messy-hair, appearing to deliberate the point, "it's more the fact that he _exists,_ if you know what I mean. …"

Many of the surrounding watchers laughed, elegant-hair, John and Watery-eyes included, but the sandy-haired boy near to him didn't, and neither did Evans.

"You think you're funny," she said coldly. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him _alone._"

The scene seemed to dissolve, and John was once again swimming through blackness. Only he wasn't John anymore. He was James, James Potter. The man who had been missing for 16 years was back, and travelling through the darkness to the lovely Lily Evans.

James' eyes became focussed once more, Lily was looking worriedly at him, "John? John?"

"I'm not John," he said breathlessly, "I'm James. I remember."

_AH!!! What do you think? Pretty good huh? I personally was impressed, but I won't know what you think until you REVIEW!!!! Please do it! Theres a little button just down there....._

_xxxx  
_


	4. A Very Special Birthday Part 2

Chapter 4

"_I'm not John. I'm James. I remember."_

"What are you talking about John?" Linda asked incredulously, "James? Who's James?"

"Let Sirius open the letter and you'll remember, Lily," James said frantically, and she looked at him, dazed for a moment.

"I'm not Lily?" she said annoyed, "I'm Linda, Linda Edwards-Peters."

"Or maybe, Lily Evans-Potter?" James asked sheepishly, and she continued to look blankly at him, "Go on, Siri, open the letter!"

Sirius turned over the envelope to reveal a wax seal on the back, on it was the letter H surrounded by drawings of a badger, a snake, a lion and an eagle. Sirius peeled open the seal, and began to read his letter out loud,

"_HOGWARTS SCHOOL_

_of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall_

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Someone will be sent to explain this too you shortly._

_Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall,_

_Headmistress"_

"What is this rubbish?" Linda asked in disbelief, "John, why are you making up stories?"

"You sound like your good-for-nothing sister, Lily," James said angrily.

"Stop calling me Lily!" she shouted angrily, "My name's Linda! What has gotten into you John? Whats all this rubbish about magic?"

"You're a witch, Lily," James explained, and she looked thoroughly offended, "and I'm a wizard. We went to Hogwarts together, Hogwarts is a school where young wizards and witches go to learn magic, and our son, Sirius, has been accepted."

"I told you to stop calling me Lily!" she shouted at him.

"Would you rather I called you Evans, then?" James said angrily, "Fine, I'll call you Evans. You can call me Potter, and I'll ask you out 300 times a day, is that what you want?"

Linda was completely quiet for a few moments. Looking angrily into his eyes.

"Go out with me, Evans," James said mockingly, "Don't make me hex you, Evans."

"Wait," Linda looked at James, "say that last one again."

"What," James asked quizzically, "Don't make me hex you, Evans? I hardly want that to be the thing you remember me by."

"I remember something," she said slowly, "we were by the lake, and you had a boy up in the air, what was his name?"

"Snivellus Snape," James said through gritted teeth.

"Don't be so mean to Severus, James," she scolded. Then her eyes grew wide, as if they were the gate allowing her memories to flood back to her brain.

"Lily?" James asked again, seeing if she really could remember.

"James," she gasped breathlessly, "It's really you! Its really… Oh my goodness!" she shrieked suddenly.

"What is it, Lily-Flower?" James asked quickly.

"Where's Harry?" she asked hysterically, "What happened to my baby!?"

"Shh, Shh," James closed her into a hug, and kissed her forehead, she was crying now, "Its okay. Remember the dream?" Lily nodded slowly, "That was him. I'm sure of it."

"He's all grown up," Lily said sadly, "I wasn't there to see my own son grow up!"

"I'm right here, you know," Sirius said slowly, "I'm your son too. Just because you remember doesn't make me any less real."

"Oh, my poor baby!" Lily rushed to give Sirius a huge hug, and James picked him up.

"Its okay, champ," he explained, "someone will be here soon to explain everything to you. They'll do a better job than we would anyway."

Lily nodded, kissing her husband and son on the cheek in turn, "Where do you think Harry grew up?"

"With Sirius, of course," James was certain that his son would have grown up with his best friend.

"But in the dream, he and Remus, they were…. Dead!" Lily burst into a new wave of tears, and James looked close to them himself. His two best friends were dead, the other a traitor.

"Hopefully Wormtail's gone the same way," James said angrily, "there's so much we've missed. For all we know, Voldemort could have gained full power, and started a full blown war. That's how Sirius and Remus died."

Lily looked worried and thoughtful, she had always been the thinker, even after they had lost their memories.

"Its funny isn't it," James began, "how we got married again, even though we couldn't remember each other. Shows we were really meant to be, Evans."

"Shut it, Potter," Lilt said jokily, "Don't make me hex you."

"You don't have a wand, Lily-Pad," James said haughtily, "and lets face it, _Sirius_ could beat you in a fight!"

"Oi!" the little red-head said angrily, "I'm still right here, you know."

"How could we forget, with that hair of yours on show, little man?" James joked, ruffling his son's hair, "and you were right, Lils, the knobbly knees were mine."

* * *

"Weasley!" there was a shrill cry from somewhere behind him. Ron groaned, and rolled over, he had had seven hours sleep, couldn't people leave him in peace? This was one of the times when he wished he was Harry, who got all the fame, and still got to sleep.

"What!?" Ron shouted angrily.

"Get up, and over here now!" Professor McGonagall shouted from across the common room. Ron got up slowly, and trudged over to where the new Headmistress of Hogwarts was standing.

"Good Morning Professor," he said, yawning, "what can I do for you this fine day?"

"A little muggle boy in your home village, Ottery St. Catchpole, has recently found out that he is a wizard, the name Potter, I believe," said McGonagall, raising her eyebrows, "I thought _you_ could go and explain things to them on your way home this morning. Your parents and sister have already gone."

Ron groaned again, "Why can't Harry do it?" he whined, "Maybe they're a long lost relative or something?"

"That the case may be," said McGonagall sternly, "but Potter needs his rest. He did _die _last night after all."

Ron groaned again, how many times would people use this excuse, "so did my brother," he said bitterly, "maybe you should get Hermione to do it, she's always been the clever one."

"Miss Granger is still asleep," McGonagall said, "I didn't want to wake her."

"You had not trouble waking me," Ron said under his breath.

"What was that Weasley?"

"Nothing, nothing," Ron muttered, "Where do these muggles live?"

"13 Burrow Lane," said McGonagall, turning to leave, "Oh, and Weasley, I suggest you have a shower before you leave, you smell awful."

Ron grimaced at her, and set off to the bathrooms.

* * *

There was a knock at the door. All three Potters jumped.

"That must be someone from the school," James said quickly, "What if they recognise us? What if they think we're impostors?"

"Shh, calm down," Lily scolded him.

"Mr. and Mrs. Potter?" a deep male voice came through the letterbox, "My name's Ron Weasley, I've come from Hogwarts!"

"Just a second!" Lily called brightly, rushing to open the door, she was wearing a pink flowery apron, "Hello, you must be Ron!"

Ron looked as though he had seen a ghost, as he looked into Lily's eyes, "What? Oh yes, I'm Ron Weasley, I'm here about your son?"

"Oh yes, Sirius," said Lily brightly, Ron's face paled considerably, "names after his father's best friend. Ah, speak of the devil."

"Hello," James said, extending a hand, "nice to meet you."

Ron shook the hand, and then did a double take, looking at the man, "Harry? But you were in the Gryffindor common room?"

James smirked slightly, and looked at Lily, "Excuse us a moment Ron."

He pulled Lily aside, into the kitchen, "He knows Harry."

"Well, he is around the right age," Lily said quietly, "Maybe he's a friend of his?"

"I look just like Harry," James continued, "What are we going to do? He's recognised me!"

"Shh," said Linda, "Stop being a baby James."

"Mr. and Mrs. Potter?" Ron called from the hall.

"Yes, come into the kitchen please," Lily called back.

Ron stepped into the bright kitchen, the walls were sky blue, and the furniture was all white, it was very homely, yet stylish.

"Sorry about that," Ron apologised quickly, "You look like a friend of mine."

James and Lily exchanged glances, "Not to worry young man," James said, trying to sound fatherly, "This is our son Sirius," he pointed to a young red-headed boy on the sofa.

"Cousin Barney?" Ron shrieked as the little red-head who Harry had impersonated at Bill's wedding waved at him.

"I'm Sirius," he said, grinning, "I don't know anyone called Barney."

"No," Ron confirmed, "of course you don't."

"Anyway, we're both confused about a letter we received this morning," Lily said quickly changing the subject, "We believe you were sent to explain it."

"Yes," said Ron quickly, "I was, um, right… so you had no knowledge of wizards and witches before this morning?"

James and Lily exchanged furtive glances, and shook their heads.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," said Ron, "to put it bluntly, your son is a wizard."

James couldn't help laughing at this, and was going red with trying to stop sniggering.

"James!" Lily whispered, and elbowed him in the ribs.

"Sorry," Ron looked confused, "Is your name James Potter?"

James nodded slowly, realising that he had been figured out.

"And you're married to a red-head called… sorry, I didn't catch your name?" Ron continued.

"Lily," Lily said quickly, "My names Lily."

Ron raised his ginger eyebrows, "Weird," he said chuckling to himself, "You're just like my friend Harry's parents, only they're dead… oh I'm being so tactless, but you would find out anyway. Harry's very famous in the wizarding world, you see."

"Famous?" Lily asked quickly, "Why is Harry famous?"

"Because he defeated You-Know-Who… about five times… once when he was one!" Ron explained.

"WHAT!?" James roared, forgetting his cover of being a muggle, "Are you tell me that Harry Potter killed Moldy-Warts? That he's defeated him FIVE times!?"

"Yes…" said Ron, "Wait… you're a muggle… how do you know who Voldemort is? Wait… you're a muggle, why do you call Voldemort 'Moldy-Warts', only person I've ever heard call him that is… Sirius Black! You're James Potter! You're not dead!"

"Well done," said James sarcastically, clapping slowly, "Genius, Ron, didn't Molly and Arthur teach you better? It took you all of five minutes to figure out that we are, in fact, your best friends dead parents. Do you want a trophy?"

"James!?" Lily scolded, "Don't be so rude! Ron has come here to explain all this to us, and we should be grateful!"

"He lives just up the road anyway!" James said angrily, "Remember Molly and Arthur Weasley? The ones with all the kids? They must have what, seven now?"

"Six," Ron corrected glumly, "They have six now."

"No, that can't be right," Lily said quietly, "They had Bill, he's the oldest, Charles, Percy, the twins, Fred and George. You, Ron, and another one on the way, that's seven."

"Now its six." said Ron, trying not to get angry with Harry's dead parents.

"But that means…" Lily started, before realising her faux-pas, rushing to hug him, "Oh, Ron I'm so sorry!"

"Don't be," Ron , shrugging her off, "Harry'll be so happy now he's finally got a family, no one will remember Fred Weasley."

There was silence for a few moments, as if the four were in fact remembering Fred Weasley.

"How come you believed us so quickly?" James asked, breaking the silence, "for all you know, we could be Death Eaters."

"I know you're not," Ron explained, "We got them all last night after the battle. I'll let Harry explain. I'm going to stun you as a precaution, though."

Suddenly the three Potters were hit by three jets of red light, before Ron grabbed them, turned on the spot, and apparated to the Burrow.

_what did you think? please review my little story! xxx_


	5. The All New Woes of Mrs Weasley

Chapter 5

Ron landed in the garden of the Burrow with a huge crash, he was still not great at apparating, and so landed unstably. The garden was oddly quiet, while the Weasley house was usually alive itself, it was deathly silent. The flutter-by bushes were still, the trees swaying noiselessly in the calm breeze, even the boisterous gnomes were hiding away. It was as though the whole house was in mourning for it's fallen member.

As Ron arrived, Molly Weasley came rushing into the garden, she wiped her eyes on her pink apron, but they were still red, it was obvious that she had been crying.

"Ronny!" She said, enveloping him in a huge hug, paying no attention to the three unconscious figures on the floor, "You were late! I was so worried you might be… be…" she looked as though she might start to cry again, but took a deep breath.

"I'm fine, mum," Ron said, "and I'm late because McGonagall sent me to do something. It was very important."

"Yes," Molly seemed to suddenly notice the bodies on the floor, "OH MY GOODNESS!" She shrieked, "You killed Harry!"

"No, mum," Ron said, chuckling slightly, "Surprisingly McGonagall did not send me to kill the Golden Boy. This is someone quite different. Speaking of the Golden Boy, is he here?"

"No," Molly replied, looking suspiciously at the unconscious figures, "Apparently he's still asleep."

"Good," Ron said, "Call dad to help me with these three, they've got _a lot_ of explaining to do."

Molly looked at her son flustered, before running into the house to find Arthur.

It took no time at all for Ron, Arthur and Molly to take the three bodies into the cosy kitchen of the burrow, despite it being May, it was quite chilly outside, and the house was comforting.

"Now, Ron" said Arthur, "Are you going to tell us who these people are?"

"Well, dad, you wouldn't believe me if I did," said Ron.

"Try me," Arthur replied, shrugging.

"Okay, well," Ron started, "these people claim to be Harry's family."

"That's ridiculous!" Arthur said, "Harry's Uncle is more than twice that man's size!"

"No, dad, not his Aunt and Uncle," Ron said, and Molly seemed to understand.

"No Ron!" she shrieked, "that's not possible! They're lying, they must have taken Polyjuice potion!"

"Mum, think about it, where have you seen this little boy before?" Ron asked calmly, pointing to Sirius.

"Well, he looks very like the muggle boy from the village which Harry pretended to be at the wedding," Molly said thoughtfully, "do you mean to say, Ronald, that these three people have been living down the lane for over a year!?"

"Pretty much," Ron said, "should I wake them up? You can ask them yourselves."

"Oh alright then," Molly sighed, pulling out her wand, the wand which had killed Bellatrix LeStrange last night, "_Enervate_"

At once the three people seemed to spring to life, opening their eyes. James was first to jump up, and he looked affronted, his hair messy and his glasses lopsided. Next to stand was Lily, her flowing mane of red hair untidy down her back, green eyes glinting angrily. Finally little Sirius stood up, and grinned happily at the Weasleys.

"Are we related?" he asked them, eyeing their red hair, "Like long lost cousins or something?"

"No, no," Molly hushed him, "How about you go and play in the garden, we need a quick word with your parents."

She stared open mouthed at Lily and James, as Sirius ran out of the kitchen door, and begun to explore the garden of the Burrow.

"Molly, I'm so sorry to hear about Fred," James said calmly, "If there's anything we can do-"

"Shh," Molly said, holding up a hand, "Anything _you_ can do? Anything _you_ can do? The Weasley family have no use for _Death Eaters!_"

"Death Eaters?" Lily asked incredulously, "You know us, Molly, James and I spent our adult lives fighting against Voldemort!"

"Yes," Molly said angrily, "Lives which ended sixteen years ago! WHO ARE YOU? WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO HURT HARRY?"

Ron and Arthur looked slightly affronted by Molly's sudden mood swing, James and Lily looked down-right terrified, "We're no Death Eaters, Molly. We're two very confused people who only remembered our _names_ this morning when our son Sirius got his Hogwarts letter!"

"Sirius!" Molly scoffed, "You named your son Sirius? If you couldn't remember your own names, how did you remember the name of that irresponsible PRAT?"

"Don't talk about Sirius that way!" Ron shouted at his mother, he had always rather like the man, "He loved Harry, and was his only family!"

"We're his family!" Molly shouted, and Lily felt touced by how kind Molly had been to take in her son like that.

"Wait a second," James said quickly, "You said _was_, like he used to be his only family, but that's because we're alive now? Right?"

"You stay out of this, Death Eater!" Molly said angrily.

"RIGHT?" James bellowed at the top of his voice. There was a few moments silence, only interrupted by the sound of a gnome as Sirius stepped on it.

"Well, you see," Ron said, "Sirius sort-of died two years ago…"

James and Lily's faces fell. Of course, that's why they had seen Sirius and Remus in that dream, they were dead, James' two best friends were dead.

"I suppose Remus is too…" Lily said sadly, but Ron merely nodded.

"This is insanity!" Molly shouted, "We're sitting here catching up like old friends! I've had enough, we're taking you to Hogwarts where McGonagall can sort you two out!"

James smiled, "Excellent, Minnie always like me!"

Molly scowled, and took the pot of Floo powder from the window-sill, "After you, Ron dear."

* * *

Ron dusted himself off as he landed much more evenly in the fireplace of McGonagall's office than he would have done by apparition, but of course, you can't apparate inside Hogwarts. He walked across the room and found the portrait of Dumbledore hanging on the wall behind the desk.

"Excuse me, sir," Ron said politely, "I was wondering if you knew where Professor McGonagall was?"

"Why, Mr. Weasley, I have never heard you be quite so polite," Dumbledore said, smiling, "Too much time with Miss. Granger is rubbing off on you. I believe that our beloved Professor is in a meeting with Kingsley, and should be back at any moment."

"Thanks, sir," Ron replied.

"Anytime, Ronald."

There was a whoosh, and suddenly little Sirius appeared in the fireplace, "Wow! That was so cool! I love magic!"

"Professor, this is Sirius Potter," Ron said simply, "He and his family are the reason why we're here."

Dumbledore nodded slowly, and surveyed Sirius' untidy red hair, freckles and hazel-eyes. There were several more whooshes, and then James and Lily were in the room, closely followed by Arthur and Molly.

"Oh, Sirius, you made it!" Lily said proudly, giving her son a hug.

"I see," the portrait of Dumbledore said, "this is a problem."

Lily and James looked at the portrait, "Professor?" James said rudely, "When did you die?"

"Ah, Mr. Potter, never one for tact were you?" Dumbledore said, chuckling, "I died nearly a year ago, unfortunately. But I was an old man, it was, indeed, my time."

"Dumbledore!" Molly said angrily, "How can you talk so freely with this, this…. Death Eater?"

"Molly, my dear, I am both old and dead, two things of which you have no experience," Dumbledore said slowly, "and being these two things allows you to see things for what they are, or in this case, _who _they are."

"What?" Arthur said confusedly.

"You see, when I approached the afterlife, I realised that there were a few people who were missing," Dumbledore explained, "For example, Mr. and Mrs. Potter, and Mr. Black, as well as your brother Fabien, Molly. I have a theory, about the so called 'killing curse', my theory, you see, is that it does not infact kill a person, but merely forces them to lose all memories of the wizarding world, and in this losing their powers. If a wizard has lost his or her powers, they can no longer out live any muggle ailments, and can die from conditions such as heart attacks, and old age. This explains why there were so few you people in the place which I went to."

"Sir, are you saying that any person who has been killed by the Avada Kedavra curse and could be kept alive by muggle means is still alive, just living without memories?" Arthur asked, inruiged.

"Yes," Dumbledore sighed, "but alas, those who have died in the battle of Hogwarts arrived safely to the afterlife, perhaps the walls of this castle possess a magic we cannot understand."

"So Remus is still dead?" James said sadly.

"I am afraid so James," Dumbledore replied, "He, Nmyphadora and I played Bridge this very morning."

"Then what about our dream?" Lily asked suddenly, and the others looked confused, "Last night, James and I had the same dream, it was as though we were ghosts, and we were in the forest…"

"Ah," Dumbledore said quietly, "You are referring to the time when Harry used the resurrection stone to bring back dead souls."

"But if our souls aren't dead, how were we taken there?" Lily asked confusedly.

"I believe it links completely to the fact that people above a certain age, such as myself, cannot survive after being hit by the 'killing curse'," said Dumbledore, "You see, if the wizarding part of your brain, including your memory, is locked away, it would be considered 'dead', as it is entirely unusable and inaccessible. However, if someone were now to try and resurrect the two of you, I believe nothing would happen, as the wizard part of your brain is now connected and in use."

"Does that mean we can still do magic?" James asked excitedly.

"You may try, James," said Dumbledore, "Why not attempt an Animagus transformation?"

James screwed his face into a ball, and suddenly, in his place was a shiny, but messy-haired, black stag. The stag pranced gracefully around the room, before transforming back into a human.

"Since when was dad a deer?" Sirius asked indignantly.

"Oi," said James, "I am not a deer! I am a stag, thank-you very much!"

"Heh-hem!" Molly said suddenly, and everyone in the room turned to face her, "We seem to be forgetting two very important things. First, that there are two people, Sirius and my brother Fabien, who are possibly still alive, but living as muggles. And second, that James and Lily Potter's son in the Gryffindor common room, completely oblivious to the fact that his parents are alive."

"Well, what are we waiting for," James said, "Lets go find out Voldemort-slaying hero!"

_what do you think of the reason why James and Lils are alive, tell me if you don't understand, and i will gladly explain! REVIEW!!!_


End file.
